Campbell: Christianity is Christ

Saturday, March 1, 2014
    Feast of David, Bishop of Menevia, Patron of Wales, c.601
Meditation:
    Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
    Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
    —John 14:8-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    How can we know that what Jesus has shown us of God is the truth; ... how do we know when we look into the face of Jesus that we are looking into the face of God? ...
    The answer is so plain and simple that it is a marvel how intelligent men can manage to miss it as they do... Look at what Christ has done for the soul of man: that is your answer. Christianity is just Christ—nothing more and nothing less. It is a way of life, and He is that way. It is the truth about human destiny, and He is that truth. It is the offer of life lived in the sunshine of eternal love, and He is that life. To know this is to know God, and every need is satisfied in that one word.
    ... R. J. Campbell (1867-1956), The Call of Christ, London: Skeffington & Son, n.d. (before 1932), p. 89-90 (see the book)
    See also John 14:8-9; Ps. 51:10; Luke 10:21, John 14:5-6; 16:6-7; Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18; 5:17; Col. 1:21-22; 3:9-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Focus my life on Christ-likeness, I pray. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonhoeffer: in real time

Friday, February 28, 2014
Meditation:
    When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.
    —Matthew 8:5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God, who will thwart our plans and frustrate our ways time and again, even daily, by sending people across our path with their demands and requests. We can, then, pass them by, preoccupied with our important daily tasks, just as the priest—perhaps reading the Bible—passed by the man who had fallen among robbers. When we do that, we pass by the visible sign of the Cross raised in our lives to show us that God’s way, and not our own, is what counts.
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Life Together [1954], tr. Daniel W. Bloesch & James H. Burtness, Fortress Press, 2004, p. 99 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 8:5; 9:20-22; 20:26-27; 23:11; Mark 5:25-34; 9:35; 10:43-44; Luke 8:43-48; 10:30-36; Acts 9:1-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I never pass by Your Cross. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Herbert: Thou that hast giv'n so much to me

Thursday, February 27, 2014
    Feast of George Herbert, Priest, Poet, 1633
Meditation:
    And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.”
    —Revelation 11:16-17 (NIV)
Quotation:
Thou that hast giv’n so much to me,
Give one thing more, a gratefull heart.
See how thy beggar works on thee
        By art.

He makes thy gifts occasion more,
And sayes, if he in this be crost,
All thou hast giv’n him heretofore
        Is lost.

But thou didst reckon, when at first
Thy word our hearts and hands did crave,
What it would come to at the worst
        To save.

Perpetuall knockings at thy doore,
Tears sullying thy transparent rooms,
Gift upon gift, much would have more,
    And comes.

This notwithstanding, thou wentst on,
And didst allow us all our noise:
Nay, thou hast made a sigh and grone
        Thy joyes.

Not that thou hast not still above
Much better tunes, than grones can make;
But that these countrey-aires thy love
        Did take.

Wherefore I crie, and crie again;
And in no quiet canst thou be,
Till I a thankfull heart obtain
        Of thee:

Not thankfull, when it pleaseth me;
As if thy blessings had spare dayes:
But such a heart, whose pulse may be
        Thy praise.
    ... George Herbert (1593-1633), The Poetical Works of George Herbert, New York: D. Appleton, 1857, p. 157-158 (see the book)
    See also Rev. 11:16-17; Ps. 35:18; 107:1; 136:1-3; Matt. 6:9; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 15:57; Eph. 5:19-20; Col. 3:17; Heb. 13:15; Rev. 4:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, correct my ingratitude.

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Wesley: frequent change of teachers

Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Meditation:
    We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
    —Romans 12:6-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I know, were I myself to preach one whole year in one place, I should preach both myself and most of my congregation asleep. Nor can I believe it was ever the will of our Lord that any congregation should have one teacher only. We have found by long and constant experience, that a frequent change of teachers is best.
    ... John Wesley (1703-1791), letter to Samuel Walker, 3 Sep 1756, The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, v. III, The Epworth Press, 1931, p. 195 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 12:6-8; Ps. 34:11; Eph. 4:11-13; 1 Tim. 5:17; 2 Tim. 2:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, give wisdom to the teachers You have ordained. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Flavel: ridding of idols

Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Meditation:
When I felt secure, I said,
    “I will never be shaken.”
O LORD, when you favored me,
    you made my mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
    I was dismayed.
    —Psalm 30:6-7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Whatsoever we have over-loved, idolized, and leaned upon, God hath from time to time broken it, and made us to see the vanity of it; so that we find, the readiest course to be rid of our comforts, is to set our hearts inordinately or immoderately upon them: for our God is a jealous God, and will not part with his glory to another.
    ... John Flavel (1628-1691), Divine Conduct [1677], in The Whole Works of the Reverend Mr. John Flavel, v. IV, London: J. Mathews, 1799, p. 421 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 30:6-7; Ex. 20:3-6; 34:14; Deut. 4:24; 6:14-15; 32:21; Ps. 78:58; 118:8-9; 146:3; Jer. 17:5; Mic. 7:5; Nah. 1:2; Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13; 1 Cor. 10:19-22; 2 Cor. 6:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I fear when You are not first in my life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Eckhart: what is sin?

Monday, February 24, 2014
Meditation:
    ... be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.
    —1 Peter 4:7b (NIV)
Quotation:
    The impulse to sin is not sin but to consent to sin, to give way to anger, is indeed sin.
    ... Meister Eckhart (1260?-1327?), from Counsels on Discernment, Counsel 9, Meister Eckhart: The Essential Writings, HarperCollins, 1957, p. 16 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 4:7; Ps. 4:4; 17:4; 37:8; 73:2-3; 94:17-18; 119:101; Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13; 2 Cor. 12:20; Eph. 4:26,31; 1 Tim. 2:8; Jas. 1:19-20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, strengthen my resistance to sin. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Schaeffer: love and truth

Sunday, February 23, 2014
    Feast of Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, Martyr, c.155
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
    —John 13:35 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The observable practice of truth and the observable practice of love go hand in hand with the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ.
    ... Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984), The Mark of the Christian, Inter-Varsity Press, 1976, p. 23 (see the book)
    See also John 13:35; Matt. 12:33; John 14:6; Rom. 12:9-10; Gal. 5:13; Eph. 4:1-2,15; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 3:18-20; 4:11; 2 John 1:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make truth and love visible in us. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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